This Ace Attorney theme feels odd... but is it actually perfect?

Comments · 298

• DA

  @darkvoid_99 · 1 year ago

  I always felt like Gumshoe’s theme wasn’t really an characterization of Gumshoe, but because you often get information about the case from him. It’s like a “you gotta lock in” theme for me.

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• A.

  @a.sh_3492 · 1 year ago

  One thing I also love about Gumshoe is while his superiors have no respect for him, the officers under him are the complete opposite. The ones we’ve seen, Maggey Byrde and Mike Meekins, have always(well, maybe not <b>always</b> in Maggey’s case) had nothing but good to say about him and how incredible he is. So, in a way, his theme also represents how the officers that look up to him see him.

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• JO

  @joaocabral7997 · 1 year ago

  In Ace Attorney Investigations, Gumshoe’s theme is called “I can do it when it counts, pal”, and for me, this is what that theme represents. When he is needed the most, Gumshoe always pulls through, and hearing his theme after that is just perfect

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• WA

  @WalkerSunriseChannel · 1 year ago

  I will always remember a comment chain from an old upload of Gumshoe&apos;s theme: <br><br>&quot;Why does this song sound both happy and sad at the same time?&quot; <br><br>&quot;Happy because it&apos;s Gumshoe. Sad because it&apos;s Gumshoe.&quot;

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• SN

  @snuffaluffygus · 1 year ago

  I never viewed Gumshoe’s theme as being about him. I always assumed the theme reflected the circumstances Gumshoe finds himself in. Gumshoe’s job requires him to repeatedly collect evidence that implicates a (usually) likable character in a very serious crime. &nbsp;His theme evokes putting your nose to the grindstone and doing the job you have to do no matter how unpleasant it may be.

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• IT

  @ItazuraChanDev · 1 year ago

  For me, the music makes me think &quot;This is a hard-working guy doing his best with a hint of sadness&quot;

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• MO

  @Mornal · 1 year ago (edited)

  That bit about using the music to reign in Gumshoe&apos;s more comic elements to make them more endearing is a really interesting point and is a really valuable lesson for narrative composers. Looking forward to future deep dives!

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• RI

  @RickyCruzMedia · 1 year ago

  This theme makes more sense in the broader context of the first game; it&apos;s well-known that the first Ace Attorney is a critique of the Japanese judicial system, and the police&apos;s role in that narrative is two-sided. Sure, the game&apos;s police are very misguided in their &quot;accuse, then find evidence&quot; approach, but they also wield serious, unignorable power. A goofy detective theme would downplay how integral it is to the plot that the police&apos;s faulty ideology is responsible for so much of this setting&apos;s injustice. By using musical tropes from procedurals where detectives are the heroes, you get a powerful police force that is simultaneously unaware of how inept it is (despite how clear that is to the player). It&apos;s a theme for the police, so its attachment to Gumshoe makes less sense the further into the series you get, as his character gets way more well-rounded.

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• TH

  @Therm6000 · 1 year ago (edited)

  His theme sounds like that of a calm, collected and reliable detective... because he is. No, really.<br><br>He&apos;s usually calm, has your best interest at heart, but takes his job very seriously. To protect and serve is far more important to him than any emotional hang-ups he might have about the situation. And while you may not be able to rely on him to do the thing right, you certainly can rely on him to do the right thing. That&apos;s the way in which he is reliable.<br><br>Maybe Gumshoe often disappoints his superiors with his incompetence, but if he just messes everything up all the time, why does he still have his job at all? Clearly he has qualities that make him an invaluable asset to the police force, one that they wouldn&apos;t truly consider firing or demoting.

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• PO

  @PopcornBunni · 1 year ago

  To me, the most interesting character theme is Dahlia Hawthorne&apos;s theme. The first time we hear it, it sounds beautiful, almost ethereal, painting Dahlia as genuinely sweet and caring. But then she reveals her cold true self and the theme&apos;s instrumentation and melody start to sound... plotting, sinister even, with the same exact theme, not a rearrangement managing to evoke two completely different emotions at different points of a character&apos;s personality being revealed. <br><br>But it doesn&apos;t stop there, because we flash forward (or backward in time rather) and we have the dramatic irony of knowing Dahlia&apos;s true nature already, and suddenly the same theme that seemed so genuinely beautiful sounds fake, artificial, and surface level, while the cold undertones bubble out occasionally. <br><br>The same piece of music in three completely different scenarios ends up working in all three and somehow highlights each perfectly.

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• DU

  @duncanfery9377 · 1 year ago

  I do think this theme fits him, not because he&apos;s a great detective, but because he&apos;s diligent and that&apos;s what this theme makes me feel : I want to search under every rock when I listen to it

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• BE

  @BeeryGamer · 1 year ago

  Now that you explained it so clearly how this theme mismatches his personality, I became more aware as to why it is my favourite character theme. Because I think that Gumshoe strives towards his theme song, and that the theme song itself is more the music of the precinct or what he tries to become. If he had &apos;Happy People&apos; as his theme song, I don&apos;t think I would like him as much as a character. Which is a hard thing to admit, because I adore the writing and the stories in this universe

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